


A Broken Brother

by DianneRose2016



Category: SEAL Team (TV)
Genre: Angst, Family, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-08
Updated: 2020-11-08
Packaged: 2021-03-08 21:07:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 2
Words: 23,906
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27453217
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DianneRose2016/pseuds/DianneRose2016
Summary: Clay has a huge secret, he's bisexual. It is a secret he has kept out of his military life in fear of how others would treat him. But when his relationship turns abusive and Clay struggles with getting away he won't have a choice but to reach out to his brothers and hope they won't be disgusted by him.
Relationships: Clay Spenser/Original Character(s)
Comments: 1
Kudos: 36





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I wanted to do a story where Clay is in a relationship with another man. If that bothers you then don't read. Clay is like 27 or 28 on the show, but just for fun, let's have him at 25.
> 
> Story Warnings: Sexual content, violence, stalking, harassment, sexual assault, domestic abuse, and swearing

Clay was woken up to the sound of his phone ringing. He was exhausted, not having gone to sleep until five that morning. They were supposed to be off for the next forty-eight hours, so he didn't think he would need to be awake just two hours later. Clay moved off the chest he was laying on and grabbed his phone off his bedside table.

"Ya" Clay said, with a tired and hoarse voice. He didn't even open his eyes to see who it was.

"Morning Blondie. You sound happy." Sonny said with a smirk.

"What do you want Sonny?"

"We're gettin' spun up. Gotta get to the base ASAP."

"Thought we were off."

"Somethin' came up. Guess Mandy was able to find new info on some target. You know how it is. We got an hour before we gotta be there."

"Alright. Can you pick me up?" Clay asked, as he sat up.

"Sure. You alright?"

"Ya just tired. I had some beers late and I just got to bed, not too sure I should be driving."

"No problem Little Buddy, I'll be there in forty. You can sleep on the plane."

"Any idea where we're going?"

"Nope, but I figure it's gotta be over an ocean at least."

"Ok, see ya soon."

"Yup."

Clay ended the call and turned to look behind him to see if Shawn was still asleep. Shawn and him had started seeing each other a few months after he got back from Mexico. They had met at a club one night when Clay was in the mood to hook up and not be bothered by his brothers. He wasn't expecting to find Shawn, he thought he would find a woman, but that was the thing about Clay. He didn't care about gender he only liked someone for who they were. When he his eyes had landed on Shawn he was immediately drawn in. His eyes were these deep and dark green emeralds, it was nothing like Clay had ever seen before. He was tanned from working outside all day building houses. Shawn owned his own construction company building luxury homes. He was very wealthy and lived in a penthouse condo in the heart of downtown. Clay was surprised when he came up to him and offered to buy him a drink. They had hit it off right away and very quickly they were going back to Shawn's condo for many rounds of fun. It was exactly what Clay had needed. He never expected that they would still be together four months later.

Shawn looked up at him and Clay could see the hint of annoyance in his eyes. Shawn was used to Clay having to leave randomly in the day or night, but the last few times Clay could see he was getting annoyed by it. Clay hadn't told anyone on his team or in the military that he liked both men and women, he didn't see the need to bring that up. Don't Ask, Don't Tell was no longer in affect, but still that bigotry was still alive and well. Clay had enough problems being Ash Spenser's son, he didn't need this to go with it. He wasn't ashamed or hiding, he just wasn't broadcasting it either. Something that bothered Shawn, who was out and proud. He didn't like that he hadn't been introduced to Clay's team. He didn't like having to be kept in the dark. He didn't like that Clay would be overseas somewhere and they couldn't even video chat. He also wouldn't know if something had happened to Clay. It was starting to take a toll on their relationship and Clay wondered if this would always be his life. Never finding someone that could handle his career.

"Seriously? You were supposed to be off for two days." Shawn said, annoyance flooding his voice.

"It happens Babe, you know that. We can't help it. I was looking forward to the time off with you, but I gotta go."

"No you don't. You don't have to go every time they call you. You're allowed to be sick. Just tell them you don't feel well and they can go without you." Shawn said, that annoyance was starting to turn into an anger that Clay had never heard from him before.

"You know I can't do that. It's not like calling in sick for a normal job. In order to be classified as sick I have to see a doc or our team medic. It's not like I can play hooky for the day. Besides, I don't go and something happens to one of them I could never forgive myself. We're a team, we work together and we all come home. It'll probably only be for a couple of days and then I'll be back."

Clay got up and Shawn was still pissed about it. He reached out and grabbed Clay's arm and pulled him back down to the bed. He climbed onto of Clay and held his wrists above his head.

"Can't stop you from leaving, but there's no way you are leaving until we have a little bit more fun." Shawn said, with his mouth over Clay's.

Clay could smell the whiskey on his breath still and he knew that Shawn was still drunk from last night. Clay hadn't drank too much, he was the one driving, so he only had a couple. Shawn though, he had a lot, Sonny would have been proud with the amount he drank. Clay knew that Shawn just needed to get some sleep. He just had to get out of here first and then Shawn would be texting me apologising nonstop for his behaviour, assuming he even remembered. Shawn claimed Clay's mouth with a harsh kiss. Clay figured he would humor Shawn for a minute before he would pull his hands free and get ready to go. He still needed to shower and get his bag ready. He had emptied it yesterday with the plan to wash everything today and repack while he had the two days off. Now he would need to get it ready and grab some coffee before Sonny arrived.

After a moment Clay moved his head back as well as he could and went to pull his wrists back, but Shawn gripped his wrists even tighter and pressed his mouth back down against his. Clay was not in the mood for any of this. He moved his head to the side, forcing the kiss to end.

"Shawn that's enough. I have to get ready."

Clay went to pull his wrists free once again, but Shawn only held him down harder. From working in construction Shawn was a big muscular man. He was bigger than Jason and Sonny. Clay had bulked up from working out with Sonny, but he wasn't near the size that Shawn was. It had never been a problem before, but now it was starting to become an issue, because Clay couldn't get his arms free no matter what. Shawn pressed his mouth against Clay's neck and started to suck on it and give him a hickey. Shawn had given Clay a hickey in the past, but it was always where no one would see it. The last thing he needed was to deal with Sonny giving him crap about having a hickey like some teenager. Clay fought to get his arms free, but when that failed he moved his legs to try and buck Shawn off.

"Shawn stop. You're still drunk."

Shawn let go of Clay's neck and used his legs to push open Clay's. He grinded his already hard cock against Clay's soft one.

"You know you want it." Shawn crashed his mouth once again against Clay's mouth in a bruising force.

Clay continued to struggle against Shawn. The problem was, the more he struggled the more it seemed to encourage Shawn. Clay knew he was drunk. More drunk than he had been in the past. Clay did not like this side to him at all. But he needed to get him off from him so he could just get him to go to sleep and he could get ready to head out. Shawn moaned and he used his thighs to push Clay's legs up slightly, just enough that he was able to get access to Clay's hole. Clay picked up his struggles to try and get Shawn the hell off from him. He was not in the mood for this at all. No matter how hard he struggled, he couldn't get Shawn's heavy weight off from him. Before he even knew it, Shawn thrusted his hard on inside of his unprepared hole. Clay gave a groan at the pain that was eaten up by Shawn's brutal kiss. Shawn just moaned and continued to push all the way inside of Clay and without even giving him a chance to adjust he pulled out almost all the way and shoved back in until he was balls deep. Shawn pulled his mouth back and kept his pace brutally fast.

"Shawn stop, it hurts." Clay said, as he fought again to get him off.

"Fuck baby, you're so tight. How is it no matter how many times I fuck you, you stay just as tight as the first time?"

Clay had to bite his lip to keep from screaming out at the pain that was shooting up his spine. They hadn't had sex tonight, both too tired after being out at the bar, they just gave each other head before they passed out. He hadn't been prepped and Shawn didn't even use a condom. They had never had sex without one before and Clay's mind couldn't help but wonder if he had to be worried about any STDs to go with it. Shawn was completely oblivious to Clay's pain as he continued to thrust as hard and as deep as he could inside of him. Clay could feel his body starting to shake from the pain and he had no idea how much longer he could handle this. Shawn's thrusts were getting erratic and his grip tightened even more to the point that Clay was worried his wrists would break. After what felt like an agonizing hour, but only minutes, Shawn's hips shot forward and Clay could feel the hot cum burning his raw insides. Shawn gave a deep moan as he pulsed. Clay couldn't stop the tear that escaped from his eyes. He never really put much thought in having sex bareback, but when he did he thought it would be with someone that he loved and loved him. He thought it would be sweet and he would feel like a part of the man he loved was inside of him. Now it made him want to throw up.

Shawn pulled out of him and rolled over onto his back, asleep almost instantly. Clay could feel his whole body shaking. He couldn't believe what had just happened, he didn't even know what to call what had just happened. He didn't want it, he had told Shawn that over and over again to stop, but Shawn was too drunk to even realise what was happening. Clay lowered his arms and he could already see the black bruising coming through. He had no idea what to do about any of this, but what he did know was that Sonny would be here soon and he couldn't see him like this. Clay got up and couldn't stop a groan from escaping as he moved. His ass hurt, a great deal and he could feel Shawn's cum starting to run down. The feeling made his stomach flip and he quickly ran to his bathroom and threw up.

After a few minutes when Clay was finally able to stop gagging he sat back. Clay sat with his back against the shower and he couldn't stop the tears that escaped his eyes. Clay couldn't believe this had happened. He didn't even know what to call this, because he was dating Shawn. They had been in a relationship for four months, they had sex the very first night they saw each other in the alley of the club. It wasn't like they hadn't had sex before and there were times in the past that they were rougher with each other. Never anything like this before. He needed time to figure everything out. He needed to be alone. He wanted to shower and then go curl up in bed, but he couldn't do that. Not only was Shawn passed out in his bed, but Sonny would be here within the next half an hour to pick him up.

Still trembling, Clay got up and turned his shower on as hot as it could go. He immediately got under the spray and welcomed the burning sensation across his skin. As the hot water hit his body Clay couldn't stop the tears from pouring down his face. He hung his head under the spray to cover his tears, even though no one was there to witness his weakness, he still felt like he needed to hide. Like he needed to be ashamed. Even with the heat his body was still trembling and Clay still felt like he wasn't clean enough. He grabbed his alofa and began to scrub at his skin. At the sight of the tinted pink water, Clay felt his stomach turn and he bent over and dry heaved a couple of times. When the cramping calmed down Clay straightened backup and he turned the shower off. He wanted to stay in it longer, but he couldn't with Sonny being on his way. The last thing he needed was Sonny to walk into his apartment and see a very naked Shawn in his bed. Clay got out and dried off, doing everything he could to avoid looking in the mirror. He didn't want to see what he knew would be a very large hickey on his neck. Clay dried off and walked as quietly as possible to his dresser. He grabbed his uniform and made sure to grab his long sleeved turtleneck. It would look weird to the others for him to be wearing a turtleneck in this weather, especially when they go to deserts mostly. But he didn't have a choice, he wasn't going to let them see the hickey and tease him about it. It was already going to be hard enough having to come up with a lie as to why he looked like shit and was not in the mood to talk or be around anyone.

Clay finished getting dressed and he looked down to see the bruising was getting darker. He knew his sleeves would hide it, but he would need to be careful that he didn't roll his sleeves up in the heat. Once he was ready Clay quickly packed his bag and then headed out. He didn't need to leave a note for Shawn because he knew that Shawn would leave on his own once he was awake. Shawn had a key, but Clay would have to fix that later. He could easily change his locks so Shawn couldn't get in. Clay headed to his kitchen and took a couple over the counter pain meds in hopes that it would be enough to ease the pain he was feeling from his ass. With that done he headed out and made his way downstairs to ensure Sonny wouldn't come up to his place. Clay couldn't help, but squint at the bright sunlight hitting his eyes. He didn't look in the mirror, but he knew that his eyes would be red and puffy and it would look like he had been crying. His head was also hurting from it and his stomach still wasn't too happy with him. Clay was glad that it was just Sonny and he would let it go. He was hoping that by the time they arrived at the base that his eyes would look normal again.

Clay saw Sonny pulling up a few minutes later and he headed down. He could already see the look of concern in Sonny's eyes before he even got in the car. Clay knew he probably looked like shit. Not only had he gotten maybe an hour of sleep, after everything that happened to him he was bound to look like shit. Clay opened the door and tossed his bag into the backseat before sitting down as gently as he could. Clay closed the door and leaned his head back against the seat. He could feel Sonny's eyes on him and he waited to see how this was going to go. After a moment Sonny spoke.

"We talking about it?"

Sonny wasn't one for talking about his feelings. He still wasn't really, but his friendship with Clay had started to change that. He never thought in a million years that Clay and him would be best friends when he first started. He didn't have an issue with Clay, he was hoping they would get him. His skills were impressive and would be a huge help to them. Still he never expected to really be friends with him, let alone best friends. Whenever something was bothering him he would talk it out with Clay and he felt better about it. Clay was usually the one that talked about how he felt. Bravo never said anything about it, but they knew that Clay was sensitive. He tried to hide it, but they had easily seen through it. Sonny had blamed Ash for Clay's sensitivity and insecurities outside of the battlefield. He was never good enough for him and Ash made sure he knew it. It was Clay's heart and mind that they had to watch out for with him.

Clay let out a shaky breath and Sonny could see a tear rolled down Clay's cheek as he spoke. "Just drive, ok?"

"Sure Little Buddy." Sonny's voice was soft and gentle, something that only made the tears that Clay fought with come faster.

Sonny for his part did his best to ignore the tears as he focused on the road. It was breaking his heart to see Clay like this. He hadn't even seen him this torn up when Stella left. Something was seriously wrong and Sonny was really starting to worry about him. During the drive Sonny thought that Clay would have collected himself and got his emotions back under control, but he didn't. It seemed like no matter how hard Clay tried, he couldn't get the tears to stop. When they arrived on base Sonny didn't head for the parking lot, instead he drove to a deserted area so they could be alone. He turned off his car and then turned to look at Clay and saw that he was fighting to get his emotions under control. Clay went and wiped at his face and just for a second his sleeved moved up a little. It was only a little, but it was enough for Sonny to see the bruising.

"What the hell?" Sonny asked, as he reached out and grabbed at Clay's wrist.

The contact caused Clay to open his eyes and flinch away. For a second Sonny could see fear in Clay's eyes and it did nothing to stop the anger from building inside of him.

"Your wrist is bruised. What happened to it Clay?" Sonny asked, as calmly as he could.

"It's nothing. We need to go we have to be at the briefing."

"We'll get there. Is that why you are wearin' a turtleneck in the middle of summer. You hiding injuries from us?"

Sonny didn't even let Clay answer before he moved and was pulling on the turtleneck. Clay moved back as quickly as he could, but with the door against him, Sonny was able to get his finger in the opening and pulled it down to reveal a huge hickey. Clay knocked Sonny's hand away and quickly fixed his collar. Sonny didn't know why, but seeing that hickey put a lead weight in his stomach. Normally he would be teasing Clay about letting some girl suck his neck like he was a teenager. But right now, it was only causing him dread. There was a giant and painful looking hickey on his neck, a hickey that was too big to have come from a woman. He had bruising on his wrist and what Sonny suspected would be both wrists. Plus he was crying, even now he had tears going down his cheeks that he couldn't seem to stop.

"Clay, you know you can tell me anything. No matter what it is. I'm not gonna poke fun at ya and I'm not gonna bring it up again with ya unless you want to talk about it. But you know, you can tell Old Sonny anything. I'm not gonna judge or lecture. Hell I won't even talk until you are done telling me. You're my brother, my best friend. You can tell me anything Clay." Sonny kept his voice soft and real gentle.

The tone in Sonny's voice was all it took for Clay to let out a heartbreaking sob and Sonny couldn't help, but wrap his arms around Clay. He suspected that Clay would fight against him, but he didn't. Clay wrapped his arms around Sonny and held on like his life depended on it as the tears continued to fall. Sonny only held on tighter.

"It's ok, let it out. I got you brother."

Sonny held onto Clay while he cried his heart out for the next fifteen minutes. Sonny knew they were going to be late, but he didn't care. He would take the heat for it and let Clay off the hook. This was more important than anything that would be said in that war room. When Clay had gotten himself back under control he pulled back and wiped at his eyes.

"I don't know why it's bothering me this much, it's stupid."

"Now I don't know what happened, but it can't be stupid if it's hurtin' you like this. Share the load brother. What happened?"

Clay took in a shaky breath before slowly letting it out. He wasn't going to tell Sonny everything, but maybe if he told him part of it he would start to feel better and be able to focus.

"I went out with a friend of mine last night. I've known him for about four months, we met at a bar and ended up talking most of the night. He works in construction and he's been in Africa. We just got talking and became friends. I knew he was gay that first night, but it doesn't bother me."

"Well it wouldn't. I know a lot of frogmen, military men, would have a problem with it, but it's just a part of who someone is. They can't help it anymore than I can help being straight. And if I know that, then there ain't no way someone as intelligent as you would think otherwise. So you went out last night." Sonny said, hoping to get more out of Clay.

"I only had a few, I didn't really want to be out, but he said he had a bad day at work and needed some fun. He had a lot to drink, he's never been that drunk before. It was after four in the morning when I was finally able to get him to leave. We were walking down this alley to get to a busier street for a cab. I was helping him walk when he suddenly pushed me against the wall. He grabbed my wrists." Clay let out a shaky breath and Sonny clenched his fists to keep from striking out at his dashboard. After a second Clay was able to continue. "He kissed me. I fought back, I swear I fought, but he's huge, bigger than Jason."

"Hey, of course you fought. You would have been in shock and confused, but I know you fought." Sonny said with strength to his voice. He wasn't going to let Clay think for one second that any of this was his fault, or that he asked for it.

"The more I fought to get my wrists free, the harder his grip was. When he finally stopped kissing me, I told him to stop and let me go, that he was drunk, but it was like he couldn't hear me. He started sucking on my neck and he closed the distance between us and started rubbing against me." Another tear slid down Clay's cheek and Sonny felt like he was going to throw up.

"Clay." He started, but before he could continue Clay spoke quickly.

"I was finally able to get him off and I slammed him into the wall and he stumbled to the ground. I left him there."

"That's all that he did? He didn't." Sonny didn't know how to word it. He couldn't believe he was having to even ask Clay if he had been raped by a friend. It seemed too unreal. Clay understood what he was saying though.

"No. I got away."

Clay instantly looked down afterwards and Sonny felt a punch to his stomach. It was always subtle with Clay when he lied. He had a very small tell, a tell that only those on Bravo had picked up. When he lied about something, he couldn't keep eye contact for longer than a few seconds, if that. It was from feeling guilty about lying, it was almost an immediate reaction in him. Sonny knew in his heart one very clear thing about all of this, Clay didn't get away. Sonny wanted to say something about it, but he could tell that Clay wasn't ready to talk about it. He wasn't ready to admit it and say it out loud. All Sonny could do was be there for him, until he was ready to talk about it. Even though it was killing him inside to see Clay in this much pain.

"Do you need a doctor?" Sonny asked.

"No I'm fine, it's just bruising. I didn't really sleep last night so I'm just tired and not feeling too great. Really I'm fine." Clay said, trying to put on a smile to make Sonny feel better.

"Maybe you should be sittin' this one out?"

"No, I want to be there for the guys. I'm fine, I can sleep on the plane. I think I'm getting a head cold and it's just making everything worse. I'm fine."

Sonny wanted to argue, but he had a feeling that Clay didn't want to be on his own right now and Sonny could understand that.

"Alright, but take it easy out there. I'm gonna be watchin' you."

"I will." Clay said, in what he hoped was a reassuring tone. He could tell that Sonny still wasn't convinced so he quickly added, "We should get going, we're already late."

Sonny looked at Clay for a moment longer before he gave a nod and turned his car back on. He drove around to where they normally parked and they both got out. Sonny could see that Clay was sore from sitting and it only caused him to worry more about potential injuries to their youngest family member. Sonny walked next to Clay, going at his own pace so he wouldn't rush Clay. They headed inside and before getting to the war room Sonny spoke.

"Why don't you go and splash some water on your face? I'll tell em you'll be there in a minute."

"That bad huh?" Clay asked with a small smirk.

"You ain't winning any beauty pageants Pretty Boy. Go on, I'll cover and say you aren't feeling too great, but you'll be fine to go with. You can always meet us out on the tarmac."

"Thanks Sonny."

"Anytime brother." Sonny said with a warm smile.

Clay headed off to the bathroom, appreciative that he would have some time to collect himself and try to make it look like he didn't just cry for the past half an hour. He still couldn't believe he had told Sonny part of what happened. He had planned on never talking about it, but for some reason seeing Sonny had opened the floodgates in him. He didn't tell him that he was raped, because he still didn't know if that was what happened. Him and Shawn were dating and it's not like they hadn't had rough sex before. Plus Shawn was beyond drunk, chances are he wouldn't even remember anything that happened. Clay had no idea what to think about any of it and he needed to figure that out first before he started talking about it. He was tired, exhausted, he just needed some sleep and then he would be able to think clearly, that was all. Clay turned the cold water on and using his hands he put some on his face to try and cover up the evidence of his tears before he would need to go and meet his team.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The second Sonny walked into the room he knew they were pissed. A little concerned, but mostly pissed. Sonny couldn't exactly blame them, if there was one rule amoung them it was that you are never late to a briefing. And if you were, you texted multiple people why you were going to be late. They hadn't done that and they were almost forty minutes late. Surprisingly enough, Mandy seemed to be the most pissed about it.

"Where is Spenser?" Mandy demanded, before anyone could say anything.

"Well hello to you too. Nice to know I'm not important." Sonny snide, as he made his way to an empty seat.

"Spenser is vital to this mission, unless you've learned Pashtu within the last twenty-four hours." Mandy said, completely not impressed by Sonny's lack of response.

"Sonny, where is he?" It was Jason's demand that had Sonny talking.

"He's in the bathroom splashing some cold water on his face. I told him to meet us at the tarmac."

"He ok?" Ray asked, a hint of concern making its way past the anger.

"Naw the kid's sick. He looks like shit, think he's runnin' a fever if the long sleeved turtleneck and shivering is anything to go by. He didn't get any sleep last night from it."

Sonny knew the lie wouldn't hold up with the team for long. Jason would order Trent to check him out and Trent would very quickly find that Clay didn't have a fever and was in fact hiding injuries under that shirt. Trent would then inform Jason, because he couldn't lie about something like that and then shit would hit the fan and Jason would punish Clay for lying. Something Sonny couldn't let happen. He knew the second Clay told him anything that he would have to inform the team. This was something they needed to know, but he didn't have to let everyone else know. This was between brothers and it would stay that way. Clay was embarrassed enough, he didn't need everyone knowing.

"He been looked at?" Trent asked.

"Naw, he was just gonna try and sleep it off, but then the call came in before any normal waking hour. Figured he sleep on the plane."

"I'll check him out." Trent said.

"Make sure he's able to go. I'm not risking his safety over a mission. If he's sick, he's sick." Jason ordered.

"Except we need his language skills for this mission. Operatives work sick all the time, he can push through it." Mandy said, not happy at all that they could be losing Clay, to what she considered to be the sniffles.

"We can use a Strap for the language, like we used to do before we had Clay. It's not like he's the only one in the entire military that speaks the language." Sonny said. He knew Clay wanted to be here, but he didn't like how Mandy was acting like he was just some tool that she could pick up whenever she wanted.

"Spenser doesn't get sick often, but when he does, he gets sick. A simple cold can turn into pneumonia within a day, we've seen it happen. Some people are like that. They almost never get sick and when they do their body makes up for lost time." Trent explained.

"Plus when he's too tired all of those languages get mixed up in his head. All it takes is for him to use the wrong inflection on a word and they could all get shot to hell." Davis added.

The others all nodded in agreement. They had seen Clay struggle a couple of times with his languages when he had been up for days straight. They never faulted him for it and they always made sure he got rest when they could. To know six languages was a lot for a person, especially when some of them were close to dialect. It's why Jason used his other members when he could for the language. Like Ray speaking Arabic so Clay wouldn't have to. Trent spoke Russian. Jason only used Clay's language ability when it was necessary for an opt and he didn't have anyone else. It was one thing to put pressure on someone when they were looking through their scope, it was another to put the level of pressure on someone to know that one wrong word, one forgotten inflection, and you could get your whole team killed. Jason hated putting Clay in that position, it was why he was always telling the kid to rack out whenever they were in an area where his language skills might be needed. The more rested he was, the better he got.

"Trent, check him out and see if he is cleared for a mission. If he's not, then we can use a Strap." Blackburn ordered.

"A Strap isn't going to be good enough. This is a major terrorist cell, the information we learn from this informant could be what we need to bring the whole cell down and save thousands of lives." Mandy said.

"Well if he's not clear, then it's either we take a Strap or you have to wait until Clay is cleared. I'm not having one of my men in the field when he's not able to." Jason said with an edge to his voice.

Before Clay had joined the team him and Mandy never had an issue. Ever since though there have been times where problems came up between them. Mandy was always looking for a way to use Clay's language skills, even trying to get him to learn more languages for them to use. It bothered Jason, because as much as he knew they were all just tools to the military, he refused to let anyone treat them as such. They were people, they had lives and loved ones. Clay was smart, but that didn't mean they got to use him like some kind of language computer. Mandy had pointed out a few times that Jason was babying Clay when he never did with any of his men or rookies in the past. That the whole team was babying him, because they made sure he slept and ate right. Sonny would have Clay working out with him to bulk up a bit. They made sure he didn't sit by himself and read the whole time he was on the plane. They did it because they knew that underneath that cocky front was a sensitive and insecure young man. A young man that didn't grow up with a lot of love in his life.

"Trent, go and check Spenser out. The rest of you get ready and brief Sonny. We'll meet you on the tarmac with a Strap just in case we need it." Blackburn ordered.

The others got up and headed out. Trent was about to go off, when Sonny spoke.

"I gotta talk to you all first."

Sonny didn't even wait to see if they would follow. He just headed for their cages. The others looked at each other, but had no choice but to follow Sonny to their room. They walked in and saw for the first time that Sonny looked pissed and devastated.

"What's going on Sonny?" Jason asked, trying to keep the annoyance out of his voice.

"You can't tell anyone, not even the kid can know that you know."

"He real sick or something?" Ray asked concerned.

"He's not sick, that was just a lie to keep from everyone else asking questions." Sonny admitted.

"Asking questions about what?" Jason demanded.

"About what's wrong with him. He's not ok."

"Sonny, what the hell is going on?" Demanded Jason, he was done waiting to hear what the truth was. He got that Sonny was upset, but he needed to just tell them.

Sonny let out a shaky breath and they could see him fighting to control his anger to the point where he was starting to shake. "He was assault last night."

"Someone beat him up?" Brock asked shocked.

"How bad are his injuries?" Trent asked.

"It wasn't that type of an assault." Sonny said.

That had everyone freezing. It was dead quiet in the room for a moment before Ray's soft voice broke it.

"Sexual?"

Sonny gave a shaky nod and everyone looked absolutely devastated. No one moved, no one spoke. They all just stood there trying to absorb what they had just heard. Clay, their Clay, had been sexually assaulted. It just didn't seem possible, he had bulked up, he was a fighter, he could defend himself. How the hell could he have been sexually assaulted? It just didn't make sense to them, but the more they thought about it the more pissed off and hurt they got. To know that one of their own had been out there getting hurt and they weren't there to protect him. To know that they had failed him Stateside.

"Tell me it was a girl." Brock said with an almost pleading tone.

They knew the likelihood of it being a girl was slim. She would have had to drug Clay and get him alone to be able to do anything. Being sexually assaulted by a girl would be better than the alternative though, so they all foolishly clung to that false hope. Sonny shook his head and they all felt that hope disappear.

"What happened?" Jason asked, doing everything he could to stay in that room and hear Sonny out instead of finding Clay and wrapping his arms around him.

"Um, he went out last night with a friend of his. Known him for four months now, knew he was gay from the start. But you know Spenser, he doesn't care about any of that. The guy works in construction, Spenser said he was huge, bigger than you." Sonny said with a nod to Jason. "Spenser said he didn't want to go out, but his friend had a bad day at work and needed to unwind, so he agreed. It was around four in the morning when they decided to head home. Spenser said he didn't have much to drink, he wasn't in the mood, but his friend was beyond drunk, he had to help him walk. They cut through an alley to get to a busier street for a cab when his friend pushed him against the wall, pinned his wrists and kissed him. The only reason he told me any of this was because I saw the bruising on his wrist for a second. He fought, he kept telling me how he fought, but he couldn't get his arms free. The guy pushed himself completely against him and started rubbing up against him and gave him a hickey. The kid said he was able to get free and knock the guy down before he took off and headed home."

"Oh thank God. So he wasn't raped, just touched." Ray said relieved. It was bad, but it wasn't as bad as it could have been.

"He looked down." Sonny said with a heartbroken voice.

"What?" Trent asked.

"Clay, when he told me that he got away, right after he looked down."

They all knew what that meant, he lied.

"Ya but I mean, that doesn't mean he lied this time around. He could have just been embarrassed." Ray tried.

"Oh Ray brother I wish. When he first got in my car I could tell he had been crying. When he sat down I could see the pain across his face for a second before he covered it up. He kept adjusting just slightly, trying to make sure I wouldn't see it. He couldn't get comfortable and every once in a while he would bite his lip. He couldn't stop crying. He was trying with everything in him to stop, but the tears just kept coming. When we pulled in I went to a deserted spot around the building and that is when I saw the bruise and then the hickey on his neck. He wouldn't talk to me, but I told him he could tell me anything. He lost it then. Cried his heart and soul out for fifteen minutes and all I could do was hold him and tell him it would be ok. He didn't get away. He didn't get away." Sonny said as a few tears ran down his cheeks.

Trent went over and placed an arm around Sonny's shoulders to offer some comfort. The others were all struggling with their emotions. To hear that one of their own had been raped, it was devastating. To not be able to protect him from something like this. To know that he was out with a friend, he should have been safe, but that friend hurt him in the worst possible way.

"Did he ah… did he get checked out?" Jason asked, trying to get his mind to work.

"No. He kept saying he was fine. He's not gonna let anyone touch him. He won't even admit that it happened."

"I can't do an exam like that with him." Trent immediately said.

"We can't make him get looked at either." Ray said.

"He can't know that you guys know. I didn't tell him I wouldn't say anything, but it was implied. He won't be able to handle that you all know. He's got shame radiating off of him as it is." Sonny said.

"We'll keep quiet about it. He shouldn't be here right now. He needs to be home, not out in the field." Jason said.

"I think he needs to be here. He doesn't want to be alone. I know him being on a mission isn't the best idea, but I think leaving him alone would be worse." Sonny said.

"Ya, but he can't be in the field with his head not right." Ray said.

"But if he needs to be around family right now, how can we leave him behind?" Brock said.

"We shouldn't be leaving him behind, there is no telling what he could do." Trent said.

"You think he'll hurt himself?" Ray asked surprised that Trent went there.

"I think he could drink until he got alcohol poisoning without realising it. He shouldn't be alone Jace." Trent said.

Jason let out a sigh, he didn't know what to do. On the one hand he didn't want to let Clay out of his sight, but on the other hand they had a job to do and it would be even more dangerous to Clay out there with his mind not fully in the game. In the end, the father in him won out.

"Trent, check him out as best as you can. We're gonna go with the premise that he's sick. Make it seem like he has a head cold maybe, that'll buy us some time and explain why he doesn't look good. See if you can get him to take a sleeping pill, we got a twelve hour flight ahead of us. If we can get him to sleep the whole time it might help clear his head. When we get there, he doesn't go anywhere without two of us on him. When we get back we can re-evaluate and I'll see about getting us some downtime. We don't let him know that we know. We have to wait until he's ready to tell us."

"We can't just play dumb though Jace. He's gotta talk about it." Ray said.

"I know, but we can't force him to. He doesn't even know that we know about any of this. We gotta take it slow."

The last thing Jason wanted was to push Clay too hard and have him distance himself from them. They had to go slow with Clay.

"Jace is right. He's too sensitive, we all know it. It won't be a physical blow that takes him out. We push too hard and we risk destroying him." Sonny said.

"Alright, I don't like it but alright." Ray said.

"We gotta get out there. Trent, you check him out real quick, and I'll tell him the mission. Ray, you get Sonny up to speed." Jason ordered.

They all gave a nod and then headed out. Once at the tarmac, Trent and Jason headed over to where Clay was standing at the roll up door, while the others headed to the plane. Trent and Jason could see that despite the cold water on his face, his eyes were still red and puffy. The evidence of his tears was still clear on his face. Thankfully they could also say it was due to a cold.

"Hey kid, you alright?" Jason asked, not even bothering to keep the concern from his voice.

Seeing the condition Clay was in was breaking his heart. He wanted nothing more than to pull him into his arms and hold him until he felt like he could face the world again.

"I'm good Boss." Clay's voice was thick from all the tears, but they could also hear the exhaustion and pain.

"Sonny said you weren't feeling too great. I'm just gonna check you out. You look like you got a head cold." Trent said.

Clay just gave a small nod. Trent went over and started his exam.

"Does your head hurt?" He asked.

"Ya, I took some Advil."

"Is it helping?" Trent asked, as he gently pressed on Clay's neck to see if his throat was swollen. He knew it wouldn't be, but he was willing to play the part. He did make sure to not hit the hickey as he knew it would have been painful.

"Not really."

"Open." Trent said, as he pulled out his pen light.

Clay opened his mouth and Trent took a quick check. He gave a nod and Clay closed his mouth. He went to press on Clay's sinuses next and wasn't surprised to find them inflamed. It was common from someone crying a lot.

"What do you think Trent?" Jason asked.

"Looks like a head cold. It should clear up in a couple of days. He needs sleep."

"Are you good to come on this op or do you want to go home?" Jason asked. He knew leaving Clay alone wouldn't be the best idea right now, but he also wasn't going to force him to go on an op unless he was ready.

"I'm good Boss." Clay said, and they could both tell he really didn't want to be alone.

"Alright, you need sleep. Trent, you got something for that?"

"I can give him a sleeping pill that will knock him out for a good eleven hours." Trent said with a nod.

"You good with that?" Jason asked.

Clay gave a nod. "What's the op?"

"Mandy has an informant in Afghanistan with information on a major terrorist cell. He only speaks Pashtu though, so we need to go meet him and get you to translate what the information is. She says it'll be easy." Jason answered.

Clay gave a nod, "I'll take the pill."

Trent pulled out the pill from one of the packages he had in his medical kit for the team. He handed it to Clay and he easily took it and dry swallowed it.

"Let's go, you need sleep." Jason said.

Clay reached down and grabbed his bag and they could both see that he was trying not to show any pain. They made their way to the plane and once inside Cerberus came running over to Clay. Clay petted the sweet dog as he made his way over to where he normally hung his hammock. Davis gave him a warm smile as she took his bag.

"I'll get this set in, you get your hammock set up. You look like death."

"Thanks Davis."

Davis gave him a warm smile as she headed to put his bag away. Clay made his way up the ladder to the next part of the plane and got his hammock all set up. Sonny came up there with him and lend against the wall as he spoke softly.

"You ok?"

"I'm fine. Trent gave me a sleeping pill. He thinks I have a head cold."

"The sleeping pill is good, let's you get some undisturbed rest. You know I'm always here if you ever need anything. Even if you don't feel like being alone, you can always crash at my place."

"Thanks Sonny, I appreciate it. I'm ok though. I shouldn't have gotten so upset over it in the first place. He was just really drunk, he probably won't even remember it happened. I mean people do really stupid shit when they get that drunk all the time right? I'm just being too sensitive about it."

"No you're not. Of course that shit bothers you, it should. Him being drunk doesn't make it better and the fact that he's supposed to be your friend makes it worse. There ain't no amount of alcohol on this earth that would ever make me lay my hands on you in any way. That's inside of him and it just took the booze to bring it out. And him remembering it or not doesn't change that you always will. You have every right to be hurt and upset by it Spense."

"Thanks Sonny, for everything. I kinda lost it on ya there." Clay said, as he kept his eyes on his hammock.

"We're best friends Clay, if you can't come to your best friend and cry on his shoulder, then we're not doing something right. I love you brother."

"I love you too." Clay said, as he looked at Sonny.

"You look like you're gonna fall over." Sonny teased.

"I think that sleeping pill is kicking in."

"Get some sleep, I'll wake you up when it's time if you ain't up by then." Sonny said warmly.

Clay gave a nod and Sonny made his way back down the small ladder. Cerberus didn't even waste a second before he was climbing up the ladder himself and headed over to Clay. Clay got into his hammock and Cerberus jumped up right behind him. After finding a comfortable spot Cerberus laid down right next to Clay with his head on his chest. Clay placed his arm around Cerberus and just let the sleeping pill take him under.

The others all got ready for takeoff and about an hour in Jason got up and headed up to where Clay was sleeping. He looked down at him and saw that he was out cold with Cerberus curled up with him. Jason then took the file and went and sat down so he was by Clay in case he needed him. That moment came eight hours into the flight when Clay started to move around slightly and make small noises. Jason got up and instantly knew he was having a nightmare, but from the sleeping pill still in his system he wasn't able to wake up. Jason looked down and saw a tear roll down his young brother's cheek. Jason moved his hand over to Clay's cheek and gently wiped it away, the contact didn't even cause Clay to stir.

"I'm so sorry kid. I'm sorry I couldn't be there to protect you from this pain."

Clay twitched in his sleep and let out a small whimper. Seeing Clay trapped in a nightmare was breaking Jason's heart. He ran his hand through Clay's hair in hope that it would have the same calming effect that it did on his children. After a moment Clay began to settle and Jason continued to stroke Clay's hair for another ten minutes to ensure that Clay would stay calm, before he moved back and sat back down to keep watch over Clay.

When it was time for landing Jason got up and began to wake Clay up. He placed his hand on Clay's chest as he spoke.

"Clay, come on it's time to wake up."

Clay let out a soft groan and Jason knew he was waking up. Clay slowly blinked his eyes open. Jason could see that the sleeping pill wasn't quite out of Clay's system yet, which would be an issue, but he was confident it would clear up once he was moving around.

"We're landing in ten Bravo Six."

"Copy Boss."

Jason headed down to get set for landing. Cerberus got off from Clay and headed down himself. Clay let out a long yawn. He was still tired, but his head didn't hurt anymore and he didn't feel congested so he figured it was better than nothing. Clay got out of his hammock and he was not pleased to still feel the pain radiating from his ass. Clay took his hammock down and made his way down to the others. He saw that they were all getting ready to go and he went over to join them.

"Morning Sleeping Beauty. You look better, how are you feeling?" Sonny asked.

"I'm alright. Trent man, do you have any Advil?"

"Ya, you sore anywhere?" Trent asked, as he went to grab an Advil Liquid Gel for him.

"Just a headache."

They almost believed him, but then he looked down and the others knew it wasn't his head that was hurting. Under any other circumstances Sonny would have been all over making fun of Clay for having a sore ass, but this time it only caused anger to flare inside of him at the reminder of what Clay had gone through not even twenty-four hours ago. Trent handed Clay the single tablet and Clay willingly took it.

"I can give you another one shortly if that doesn't help. Just need to wait until the sleeping pill is fully out of your system." Trent explained.

"Thanks."

They could all tell that Clay was nowhere near his usual self, he wasn't even trying to be. He was too hurt to even try to fool anyone that he was alright. Jason was really starting to question his decision to have Clay out in the field, he knew that Clay didn't want to be home and alone right now, he understood that, but he could have had Clay stay on the plane with HAVOC. It was too late now though so all they could do was keep an eye on him. It was a good ninety minutes later when they all finally reached the location. Clay had sat in the back and as the drive continued they all could see the toll it was taking on their youngest brother. He was constantly moving around and the look of pain flashed across his face every time they went over a bump. Trent had done his best trying to avoid the major bumps in the road, but with a dirt road it was not an easy task. By the time they arrived in the village Clay was struggling to move normally. He was doing it, because he refused to show any sign of weakness in front of anyone. He also didn't want any questions about why his ass was so sore.

"How's the head?" Trent asked.

"Still hurts."

Trent pulled out another Advil and handed it to him. Clay took it with a thankful smile and followed the others to where they were meeting this informant. The building was a home within a village that had been deserted sometime ago. It was all very secretive and Clay was getting a weird feeling. It almost seemed too quiet, too calm, too perfect for a secret meeting. But the others didn't seem surprised by the location so Clay figured they must have expected this from the briefing. They headed into the home and saw that the informant was already there waiting for them. Jason stuck with Clay while he ordered the others to clear it and take up position just in case.

Clay took in the informant and saw that he wasn't traditionally dressed to fit in within the culture. He was standing in the middle of the room, not off to the side, not sitting in a chair while he waited, but standing right in the center of the room. Something just wasn't sitting right with him.

"Something doesn't feel right." Clay whispered to Jason, unsure just how much english the informant knew.

"Why?" Jason whispered back. He believed in trusting in your gut, and often Clay had very good instincts and observational skills.

"He's standing right in the middle of the room. He hasn't moved to come closer to us or away from us. He hasn't said anything since we arrived. And his clothes, they don't match the area we're in. What terrorist cell is he an informant on?"

"Number three according to Mandy." Jason said, using the code they have for different terrorist cells.

"Looks more like five."

The man speaking interrupted the rest of their conversation.

"He wants to know what the hold up is." Clay said.

"Tell him to release the information he has." Jason said.

Clay relayed it and the man spoke again.

"He said there has been talk about attacking the J-Bad American base. Their plan is to blow it up to show that they will not be controlled by the American pigs. They want to kill the soldiers, the civilians, everyone on the base and make it their new stronghold."

"Well that's nice." Sonny said sarcastically.

"Why didn't he tell Mandy this? Why did we have to come here to hear it?" Jason asked.

Clay relayed once again and he felt his heart drop at the words the informant was saying. That bad feeling in the pit of his stomach was growing.

"What's he saying?" Jason asked.

"Nothing. He's ranting. Going on and on about how the attack will begin by showing that their best is no match for them. It's a set up Boss. We gotta go." Clay said in a hurry.

"Bravo One to HAVOC, do you have anything on the ISR?"

"Hang on Bravo One." Davis said.

Clay pointed his gun at the informant and told him to put his hands up and not move. It was a simple action, but it caused a reaction that no one saw coming. Bullets ripped through the old wooden house. Before they even had the chance to react Clay went down. The others hit the deck and started shooting back, while Jason reached out and grabbed Clay and pulled him over to him. Clay coughed and Jason was relieved to see that he was at least alive. He made quick work of checking to see where he was hit.

"Boss?" Trent asked.

"No blood. It hit the plate. He's awake and breathing." Jason called back.

"I'm good." Clay said.

He reached over and grabbed his gun that had hit the ground when he fell.

"There ain't no way that's not gonna bruise." Sonny commented.

"Anything feel broken?" Jason asked, still not letting Clay get up to join the fight.

"No, I'm alright. We gotta get out of here, he was just the bait." Clay said.

Their informant was laying there dead and Clay could swear he saw a smile on his face. He was just the bait to get them here. Mandy had been played, it happens to everyone, but Clay couldn't help but feel like this time around it shouldn't have happened. Clay knew by one look at this man that he wasn't who he said he was. So how the hell did Mandy miss it?

"Bravo One, Sitrep." Blackburn demanded.

"It was a trap, we're pinned down."

"Can you get to your vehicle?" Blackburn asked.

"It's destroyed." Ray said, from the spot he could see through the destroyed wood walls.

"Negative, it's destroyed. We need an exfil."

Jason and Clay joined the fight in trying to get the shooters taken out. The problem was, they had no idea how many there were or where they all were. They could only see through the spots that were destroyed in the walls.

"Exfil location is on your phone. Helo is fifteen mics out. ISR shows that you have ten combatants directly in front of you. No one is behind you." Blackburn said.

"Copy, we're moving." Jason said.

Trent and Sonny started to kick at the old wood walls to make a hole. They all then moved out. Jason placed his hand on Clay's shoulder and started to force him back and he went in front, shielding him. They all made it out the hole and started to go through the village to get to the exfil spot. Jason made sure that Clay was behind him and Sonny made sure he was behind Clay, making Clay safely tucked between them. As they made their way to exfil, Clay was doing his best to keep up and not slow them down, but his chest hurt. He felt three bullets hit his plate and he knew that he was going to have some serious bruising again from it. He could breathe without too much pain, so he knew that he didn't break any ribs, something he was very thankful for. He was hoping he didn't crack any, but he knew that would be false hope.

Step by step they were able to make it to exfil without anyone else getting hurt. Once they were in the air Clay leaned back and did his best to get the pressure off not only his ass, but his left side. The others all turned their attention to Clay as Trent went over and started to ask him questions as started to remove Clay's plate.

"How's your breathing?"

"It doesn't hurt to breathe, but it's getting sore. I don't feel anything rubbing together."

"How many hit?" Jason asked.

"Three, two on the left and one on the right." Trent answered as he saw the plate and then he was lifting Clay's shirt up to see his torso.

The bruising was already coming through and making its way towards Clay's stomach.

"Damn kid." Sonny said.

"Left side is covering up the pain from the right, but you'll be feeling it soon. You're gonna need a scan to make sure you don't have any internal bleeding. I'm not feeling anything broken, but you definitely would have cracked some."

"What the hell was that?" Sonny asked pissed now that he knew that Clay would be ok.

"Seems like Mandy's informant wasn't who he was supposed to be." Ray answered.

"I'll deal with Mandy. We also need to make sure that the J-Bad Base is aware of the potential attack." Jason said.

He had no idea what had just happened, except that he almost had his whole team killed if it wasn't for Clay's instincts. Emotions had already been running high after learning what Clay had just been through. This close call was only making it worse, especially because Clay had taken three bullets to his plate. This mission should never have happened in the first place. Jason had no idea what Mandy was thinking, but he was going to get to the bottom of this. He didn't know if it was because his emotions were running so high right now, but he couldn't help but think Mandy was using Clay in some way. He normally would never think that, and she hadn't ever used any of his team in the past before, but there was this nagging voice in the back of his mind that just wouldn't shut up. Telling him that Clay was just some tool to her. Jason was praying that he was wrong, and that this was some fluke that should never have happened. That when they got back to their plane Mandy would be all apologies and making sure they were ok.

Once they landed on the air strip by their plane they all got out. Sonny helped Clay get to the plane with Trent right next to him. Once there Davis, Mandy and Blackburn came over to them to check in as they walked on.

"You alright?" Blackburn asked Clay, but it was Trent that answered.

"Need to get some ice packs on his ribs. He took three to his plate. None are broken and no signs of internal injuries so far, but he'll need a scan back in the States. He's got at least a couple of cracked ribs."

"Get him on the cot, we take off in five." Blackburn ordered.

Trent and Sonny got to work on getting Clay removed of his gear and set up on the cot, Cerberus right behind them. Brock and Ray headed off to the other side of the plane to get their gear off, giving Jason a wide berth. Jason walked over to where Blackburn, Mandy and Davis were, the look on Jason's face had Davis turning and heading over to check on Clay.

"What the hell happened out there?" Mandy demanded with her hands on her hips.

"You don't get to ask me that with attitude. Not when my whole team almost died from your so called informant." Jason snapped.

"Alright, what happened?" Blackburn demanded this time. He knew there was going to be a fight between these two, but he needed the information first.

"We got there and Clay sensed something was off. He said the way he was dressed didn't fit the terrorist cell he was supposed to be apart of. He was also positioned in the middle of the room. He didn't speak or move when we entered. He said that they were planning on attacking the base here, killing everyone and taking it over as their stronghold. Clay said he started to rant and going on about proving themselves by taking out a top team. Clay gave a warning to us, but before we could do anything bullets started flying."

"I will get in contact with the base and let them know. Anyone besides Spenser get hurt?" Blackburn asked.

"No."

Blackburn gave a nod and moved off. He knew that the conversation between Mandy and Jason was far from over, but it wasn't his place to intervene. Yet anyways.

"Where's the informant?" Mandy asked.

"He's dead or will be. Wasn't really a priority when my men's lives were at risk."

"He had vital information on a possible attack against an army base. You should have considered that a priority."

"My priority was making sure Clay, after taking three bullets, wasn't dead or dying. He was the priority, not your fake informant. Tell me Mandy, how is it that Clay within a second of seeing him, knew he was lying, but you didn't? How long has he been your informant?" Jason asked, his anger coming out in full now.

"He was a newer one. And how was I supposed to know that his clothing was different to everyone else? It all looks the same Jason. The information he stated to have was too valuable not to take the risk. And from this op we now know they have a military base on their target list. Everyone on the team made it out and Spenser will be fine."

"Oh he will be. But tell me Mandy, do you care that he's going to be fine because he's a member of my team or because you want to still use his language skills?"

"Is that what this is about? You're mad because I insisted that Spenser be here and not a Strap."

"You didn't answer the question."

"Spenser has a gift with languages. I would be a fool not to use him. You use your team all the time."

"No, see that's the difference, I don't. I don't use my team, I utilize them. I place them in the best spot for their skills, to give them and the team the best chance of survival. I don't use any of their skills to try and get ahead. I don't use Spenser's language skills to get better ops to push my team and my career further."

"Well maybe you should be. He has a gift with learning languages like I've never seen before. The Upper Brass in both military and mine talk about him all the time. He could be learning languages that no one else in Special Ops know. You should want that for him. You should be pushing him towards it. It would change his career, he could be going after high level threats to this country."

Jason could hear the hint of enthusiasm she had. She didn't care about Clay's career, she cared about what he could do for her. This was a new side to Mandy he was seeing and he didn't like it. If Clay wanted to learn a new language that was his choice, but Jason wasn't going to order him to. He wasn't going to push him towards something that Clay never vocalized wanting. Jason knew Clay had a bigger dream. He knew he wanted a family one day and he wanted to be in politics so he could better the country stateside. So he could change some of the protocols within the military to have more support for their servicemen and veterans. Clay had a bright future of leading Bravo one day, but he also knew that Clay had a larger goal once he put in his twenty-five years. A goal Jason believed to be honorable and he had no doubt that Clay would pull it off.

"He's not a toy for you to use. He's a person, he's family, my family. You don't get to use him, never again, or you won't be on this team." Jason said with a deadly anger.

"I work for the CIA Jason, not for you. My position on any team has nothing to do with you. And my bosses won't cater to your tantrums. Spenser's career is already heading in a different direction, all he can do is accept it or quit. If he didn't want to get noticed he shouldn't have been so good and special. Now I have to go and clean up your mess and explain to my boss why you let an informant die who had vital information on an attack against an American military base." Mandy went to walk away, but Jason's voice stopped her.

"So you've never cared about any of us?"

"You know I care about you, about all of you. I have risked my career on more than one occasion to help you. To bring you all home alive."

"But not him?" Jason challenged.

"I know better than to allow myself to care about an asset. He was marked the second he graduated SERE. The only reason he hasn't been removed from Bravo is because you all are so good. Because I was able to make the argument successfully that Bravo would only benefit from having someone like Spenser and he would be able to learn from the best in the military. But it's coming soon, where he will be starting to float on different teams when Bravo is not on an operation. Like I said, he's too special."

"I won't allow it." Jason said with a threatening tone.

"You can't fight the Upper Brass and you can't fight against the Director of the CIA Jason. All you can do is accept it, and teach him what he needs to know so he can come back to you."

Mandy turned and left and headed over to the computers so she could get to work. The door behind Jason closed and he knew it would be takeoff soon. He looked over at his youngest member and saw that he was laying on his back with multiple ice packs against his torso. Cerberus was already on the cot laying down by his feet, the dog instinctively knowing that Clay's chest was off limits. Trent was sitting by Clay's head just in case there was an issue in flight and Sonny had taken up position by Clay's feet. He could see the kid had his eyes closed and was doing his best to get the pain under control. Jason knew he would be willing sleep to come so he could escape the pain for a little while. Jason looked over at his other two team members on the opposite side of the plane, but kept Clay in their direct sight. He could see the concerned looks on their faces and he knew what they were thinking. They had almost lost him and it all would have been for nothing. They had no proof that there was even a plan in place to attack the base here. It could all have been just talk to keep them in the house while the others took up positions.

Jason's stomach tightened and turned at the thought that he would need to tell his team about Clay being freelanced out. They were not going to tolerate losing him. It wasn't about his skill, they all knew he could handle his own. It was about what could happen to him mentally and emotionally. It was about Clay not trusting people easily. He had gotten used to being on a team, having to be on a new team that he didn't know would only make Clay go backwards. Jason let out a frustrated sigh before he began to remove his equipment and make his way over to Clay.

"How is he?" He asked Trent, as he looked down at Clay.

"I'm fine." Clay managed to get out through clenched teeth.

"He's in pain. I gave him a half dose of morphine. I can't give him more until I know he's not bleeding internally. His bruising isn't spreading so that leads me to believe he isn't. If it stays like that for the next three hours then I can give him a real dose and knock him out." Trent answered.

"What about in flight? Will his breathing get worse?"

"It could. I have the oxygen ready in case I need it. Just depends on how his ribs are."

Jason gave a nod. He reached down and placed his hand in Clay's. "Just try and sleep, it's the best thing for you right now. When I need to block out the pain I force my mind to think about something else. I'll try and do the multiplication tables in my head as high as I can go. Or try and remember the periodic table. Force your mind to think about something else and it will eventually forget about the pain and you should be able to fall asleep."

Clay just gave a nod and Jason gave his hand a gentle squeeze before he let go.

"We got him Boss." Sonny reassured.

Jason went and put his gear away before he headed over to the other side of the plane and sat down for takeoff. It wasn't even ten minutes after they were leveled out did Ray come over and sit beside him, handing him a beer in the process.

"He's gonna be alright Jace."

"This time."

"We can't predict what will happen on an op. Even the ones that are supposed to be easy. If he hadn't come, there's no telling what could have happened. I doubt a Strap would have been able to tell that guy was playing us from his clothing. That's something that only our Spenser can do. Kid saved all of our asses."

"Ya and took three bullets for it. Mandy called him an asset." Jason said, his anger coming back full force.

"We're all assets." Ray said with a shrug.

"You don't understand, she won't let herself get close to him because he's an asset. Not just in the sense that we are to the Navy. The Upper Brass and the Director of the CIA have him labelled as an asset. They're going to start farming him out to other teams when he's not on an op with us."

"What? They can't do that." Ray said pissed now as well.

"Apparently they can. They don't even need his permission, because the Upper Brass are on board. They can order him to do whatever they want. They want him for his language and sniper skills. Said he was marked an asset the second he graduated SERE training. That the only reason he's been with us this long is because Mandy was able to make the argument that he was better here learning from the best and he made us better. She didn't say it, but they're gonna make him learn more languages to be able to send him to more places."

"The kid already knows six languages. How many more do they want in his head?"

"My guess, as many as they can get. I know a person can learn as many languages as they want, but it's not that simple. We've seen it in him. He gets too tired and he has a harder time keeping them apart. He doesn't need anymore to go with it."

"What the hell are we going to do? We can't fight against the Upper Brass when they give an order."

"I know. I'll talk to Blackburn, we're gonna have to try and find a way to change the Upper Brass's opinion. I just don't know how the hell we are supposed to do that."

"That's impossible Jace, you know that. And it could take years."

"We'll think of something. For now, we be there for him like we always have. He'll be on medical leave for a little bit with his ribs. When he gets back though, you're still my number two, but I'm gonna be using him more for strategic stuff. I gotta try and teach him as much as I can so he's ready for when they farm him out. I'm gonna have Trent teach him medical stuff as well just in case they don't have a medic. We gotta get him ready Ray."

"We will. I'll work with him too and make sure his mind is thinking right. We all teach him what we know, it'll be like we're right there with him."

"We can't let him slip back into old habits. We can't let him hide away with a book to keep himself distant. He finally fully trusts us, and it took a hell of a lot of work for that to happen. He's finally himself with us, we can't lose that. We can't let him go backwards."

"And we won't Jace. We're always going to be in his life, no matter what. We'll get through this and we'll do whatever we have to to ensure he stays with us. We could get Blackburn to argue that if he's to be going on different ops that it would make sense for Bravo to be the team to go with him. Means more work for us, but we'd at least be able to keep an eye on him."

"I'll run it by Blackburn and see what he says."

"It'll be ok Jace. We'll figure it out." Ray said, trying to ease the stress from his best friend.

Jason just gave a nod and Ray sat back with his beer. He knew there was nothing else he could say that would make Jason feel better. There was nothing they could do but wait and see how this would play out and react to it as best as they could. For now, they were all safe and heading home. That was good enough.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

It was just after seven at night when Sonny pulled up out front of Clay's apartment. Clay had been fighting to stay awake ever since they left the hospital. He had no internal bleeding, but he had two cracked ribs on his right side and four on his left side. He was in pain and very thankful that he was given pain medication at the hospital. All he wanted was to sleep, that was until he realised he would have to sleep in the bed that his boyfriend had maybe raped him on. Clay was still confused by all of it and what any of it meant.

"You sure you want to stay here? I can bring you back to mine and you can just rest up." Sonny offered once again.

Clay was tempted to tell him yes, but he was worried that would bring up too many questions. He was also stuck on medical leave for six weeks until his ribs healed, so at some point he would have to face the music and go back home. Clay figured it would probably be better to do it while he was drugged up.

"I'll be fine. Thanks for going with me to the hospital."

"Don't have to thank me for that brother. I'll call you tomorrow to check in, but if you need anything don't think twice about calling me. I don't care what time of the day or night it is. You need anything, you call me."

"I will. I'm probably just gonna sleep the next few days away."

"Probably the best thing you can do. You need any help getting in?"

"No I'm good. Thanks Sonny, for everything." Clay said with a small warm smile.

"I'm always gonna be here for you Clay. Nothin' ever gonna change that."

"You too."

Clay grabbed his bag and got out of the car. Sonny sat there watching as Clay made his way up the steps and inside. He didn't pull away until he could no longer see Clay. Sonny was planning on coming to see Clay in the next day or two to check in and make sure he knew that he wasn't alone. Clay slowly made his way up to his apartment, thankful that his building had an elevator. The second Clay walked into his apartment his heart dropped. There standing in his kitchen was Shawn.

"Hey Babe, you're back sooner than I thought. Must have been a quick one." Shawn said with a warm smile.

"What are you doing here?" Clay forced out.

He was doing his best not to throw up. He didn't expect for Shawn to be here. He had a key and there were times when he would come by when Clay was spun up or when he was on his way back home. But he wasn't expecting for him to be here this time around. Clay had no idea how he felt about Shawn, but what he did know was he wasn't prepared for this.

"I woke up and you were gone. Figured you got spun up. I didn't need to be in the office so I stayed in hopes that you would be back fast. Looks like my hope was right." Shawn said with a warm smile as he made his way over to Clay.

Clay backed up and did his best to keep his voice strong. "I want you to leave. Leave your key and don't ever come around me again."

"Why? What's wrong?" Shawn asked, completely confused.

"After what you did to me, why would I want you here?"

"What did I do? Babe I don't know what you're talking about. Talk to me."

"We had just fallen asleep when I got the call that we were getting spun up. You were angry, I went to leave, but you grabbed me and held me down." Clay said with a shaky voice as he pulled his sleeves up to reveal his wrists.

Shawn paled at the sight of the bruising. Clay then moved his collar down to show Shawn the deep hickey on his neck and Clay could see tears forming in Shawn's eyes. He truly didn't remember doing any of it. He was completely lost in his own world Clay figured Shawn didn't even know he was doing anything wrong.

"Oh God Babe. I'm so sorry. I don't remember any of it. I was so drunk the other night, I barely remember getting here. I would never hurt you, not intentionally. I drank too much, I shouldn't have. I'm so sorry. I love you, I would never hurt you in my right mind. Tell me that was all that happened. I couldn't live with myself if I had done anything sexual to you that you didn't want."

The pleading tone and guilt to Shawn's voice had Clay feeling guilty himself. He knew Shawn probably wouldn't remember it, but he had been so focused on how he was feeling that he didn't even think about how it would affect Shawn.

"No, you didn't do anything else. You passed out and I left. I'm sorry I should have known that you wouldn't remember. I'm just exhausted and in pain, I'm not thinking straight."

Clay couldn't help, but feel guilty for not even considering how this would be hurting Shawn. He had known Shawn for four months now, he's never had a problem with him. People got too drunk all the time, it's just different when it is a girl versus a guy. Shawn did what a lot of guys do when they are too drunk and horny. Clay could hear his father's voice telling him that he was being too sensitive and overreacting. That he needed to man up.

"In pain, were you injured on the mission?" Shawn asked with concern, taking a step closer to Clay.

"Took three bullets to my plate. I'm fine, but I have some cracked ribs. The doctor gave me some pain meds to take. I'm on medical for six weeks."

"Babe, you must be in so much pain. Let me help you, get you into bed and I'll grab you some ice packs. And then if you still want me to leave, I will."

Clay just gave a nod, too tired to even attempt to tell Shawn he was fine on his own. Shawn came over and helped Clay head into the bedroom, he pulled the covers back and Clay sat down. Together they worked on getting his clothes off. When Shawn removed Clay's shirt he froze at the sight of the bruising.

"Oh Babe, you've got to be in so much pain."

"The meds help. I'll be fine in a few days when they start to heal."

"Come on lay down. I'll go and grab some ice packs."

Clay slowly laid back and Shawn made sure he had enough pillows to support him. He then went out and grabbed some ice packs from the freezer before heading back. He placed the ice packs against Clay's ribs.

"Is that ok?" Shawn asked.

"It's good. Thanks."

"You don't have to thank me. Fuck, after what I did to you, the last thing you need to do is thank me." Shawn said, full of shame.

"You were drunk, you didn't know what you were doing. I'm ok."

Clay reached out for Shawn's hand, who easily took it.

"It's a hell of a way to tell you that I love you. I meant to do that in a more romantic setting and manor."

"I'm not really one for romance." Clay said with a small smirk.

"I meant what I said. I love you. I love how passionate you are about your job. I love your strengths. I love all of your weaknesses. You have stolen my heart Clay Spenser." Shawn said warmly.

"I love you too."

Clay felt like shit for thinking that Shawn would ever hurt him intentionally. He was just drunk and Clay had overreacted.

"I'll head out now."

"Stay. Please."

"If that is what you want. I don't want to hurt you or upset you."

"I want you to."

Shawn gave a nod and he made his way over to the other side of the bed. He removed his clothing down to his boxers like Clay and got under the covers. He gently wrapped an arm from underneath Clay's shoulders so he could hold him without causing any pain to his ribs.

"Get some sleep. I'll be here if you need me." Shawn said before he placed a kiss to Clay's head.

Clay closed his eyes and just allowed himself to be pulled under by the pain meds. Shawn couldn't help, but smirk. He had dated other men in the past, but they were all smaller than him, simple minded. They were easy, not even the slightest challenge to him. When he saw Clay, he just had to have him. Shawn figured it would just be a one time thing, but then Clay was too good and Shawn knew he needed to make him his. Clay was a challenge, he was strong and came with a very close team that worked as a family. It would be harder and take more work to manipulate him and turn him into the man Shawn wanted him to be. But it would be worth it. The first part of his plan had worked. When he got too drunk to "remember" what he had done. Clay was full of insecurities thanks to his father, exploiting them was easy. Not to mention he loved the feel of being inside of Clay bareback. He loved the power he had over him and it took all of his strength not to show Clay that he wasn't in fact very drunk. Shawn couldn't wait until he was able to do it again, but next time he would make sure Clay was begging for it. He would have to be sweet and gentle for a little while, but he could use Clay's time off to distance himself from his team. Once he got Clay more alone, it would be easier to manipulate him. The fun was just about to begin. 


	2. Chapter 2

It had been a couple of days since Clay had returned from his last mission that did not end well for him. His ribs were hurting him, every breath hurt, but he was thankful there were no internal injuries. His ribs would heal and the bruising would fade. Shawn had stayed with him for the past couple of days before he headed off to work today. Shawn had been very attentive with him for the past couple of days. Clay was still confused about what had happened between them. He knew that Shawn didn't remember what had happened and Clay believed him. The problem was, Clay did remember and it wasn't easy to forget. Clay knew he was probably being too sensitive over this, that he should just man up and move on already. He was trying his best to move forward and just forget about it. After all, they had had rough sex before so it shouldn't be that big of a deal. He was probably overthinking it and being too sensitive. Ash always told him he was too sensitive and acted too much like a woman. With him being more interested in reading and learning than doing manly things.

Clay was up and moving today because he got a text from Mandy that he needed to meet today at nine. Clay was not in the mood to be going anywhere, but he also knew he didn't have much of a choice in the matter. He was still really sore and exhausted, on top of that he had a headache today. He had called Sonny again and asked for a ride, one Sonny was more than happy to provide. Clay honestly had no idea what he would do without Sonny. He couldn't believe that him and Sonny were best friends. He thought for sure when he joined the team that him and Sonny would never get along and now they were best friends. Clay headed downstairs and waited for when Sonny would pull in. He was so tired from not getting proper sleep with his ribs. Every way he laid it hurt and he couldn't lay on his back too well because his ass hurt and it was harder to breathe lying flat. So he had to sleep propped up and that caused his ass to hurt even more. It was endless and the end result was him not getting much sleep.

When Sonny pulled up Clay headed over and got in. He didn't even waste a second before he put the back of his seat back slightly so he wouldn't have to sit straight up and put more pressure on his ribs.

"I'd ask how you are but that pretty much sums it up." Sonny said, slightly worried.

"My ribs are killing me. It doesn't matter what I take, nothing works and I have a raging headache for the past couple of days to go with it. I am exhausted and all I want to do is sleep for twelve hours without waking up every thirty minutes from pain." Clay complained as he closed his eyes and leaned back.

"You get your head checked? You banged it when you got hit didn't you?" Sonny asked, now worried that Clay had a concussion.

"Ya they did a check for a concussion but they didn't see anything."

"Maybe you should have Trent check you out while you're there. What are you going in for, you're supposed to be on medical leave for three weeks."

"Don't know. Mandy sent me a text saying I needed to be there for a meeting at nine."

"She didn't say what the meeting was about?"

Sonny didn't like the sound of that at all. There was no need for Mandy to be pulling Clay in when she knew that Clay was on medical after taking three bullets. When they pulled up to a stop light Sonny quickly texted Jason that he had Clay and what was going on. He knew that Jason would want to know about this.

"Nope."

Sonny looked over at Clay before he continued on down the road. "You doing ok otherwise?"

"Ya I'm good. My friend texted me when we got back, he didn't remember anything that happened that night."

"Did you tell him?" Sonny asked, doing his best to keep the anger from his voice.

"Naw, just told him to leave me alone and to not contact me anymore."

"And he hasn't?"

"Nope."

Sonny wasn't sure if Clay was lying or not, because his eyes were already closed so it wasn't like Sonny could see if he lied. He was praying that he was telling the truth.

"What's his name anyways?"

"It doesn't matter, he's gone. Can we drop it please."

"Ya, ya sure." Sonny said, but he was not happy about it.

He wanted to know more about this friend, but it seemed like Clay was not in the sharing mood, not that he could blame him. When they pulled into the base Sonny parked as close as he could as they got out. Clay gave a groan as the sunlight hit his eyes. It was making his headache worse and he was really hoping that this meeting didn't last long. He also just figured out that someone would need to give him a ride back home because he had no car.

"Sorry, I just clued in that you would need to drive me back." Clay said, as they headed in.

"No worries little brother, I got you." Sonny said, patting Clay's back gently.

Sonny was not surprised to see everyone in the tea, standing there at the entrance waiting for them. Just like he was not surprised to see that Jason was pissed.

"What are you guys doing here?" Clay asked.

"Sonny texted me that you were coming in for a meeting with Mandy. I'm going in with you." Jason said.

"You ok?" Trent asked, moving closer to Clay.

"My head is killing me. I can't seem to shake this headache no matter what I take." Clay admitted. Trent had a way of making things that hurt better and he was really hoping for some magic right now.

"You smacked your head really hard when you went down. Did the hospital check you over for a concussion?" Jason asked, now concerned.

Trent went over and started to touch Clay's head as Clay answered.

"Ya they checked and found nothing. There was no bleeding or anything like that."

Clay hissed as Trent gently touched the back of his head.

"Sorry. You have one hell of a bump back there."

Trent pulled out his penlight and took a quick look at Clay's eyes. Clay did his best to keep his eyes open with the sharp stab of pain the light sent through his head.

"They equal?" Ray asked.

"Nope. It's subtle, but his right is slightly smaller than his left. Concussion symptoms can show days or weeks after the blow to the head. He's got a mild one, but it'll still be about a week to ten days to heal. Doc should have known better." Trent said, not happy that Clay didn't receive proper care. He could have gotten placed on concussion protocol to help reduce his discomfort right now.

"Great." Clay complained.

"Sorry kid, I should have checked." Trent said he was not happy that he didn't even think that Clay had hit his head. He was more focused on his ribs and his ass than his head.

"It's not your fault. I didn't think of it either." Clay said not wanting Trent to blame himself.

"It's a good thing you are already on medical leave. Not happy with you having a concussion and it was missed." Jason said.

"How are your ribs?" Trent asked.

"Sore. I can't get comfortable enough to sleep. I've been taking Advil, but it's not working."

"Ya you should have some with codeine, like a T3. I'll grab some from the base Doc for you. It'll help with the headache too. You should be in bed resting right now. You need to spend the next week just sleeping it away and drinking plenty of water." Trent said.

"You got food?" Ray asked.

"No I'll have to go out later and get some. I thought I would go tomorrow when I felt better."

"After this meeting I'll take you home and then tonight I'll stop by with some groceries for you. You need to be in bed not out wandering around. Let's get to the meeting, Blackburn is going to meet us there too." Jason said.

"What's it about? Why would you and Blackburn need to be there? Am I in trouble?" Clay asked, worried about his spot on the team.

"The CIA and the Navy have classified you as a government asset. I suspect this meeting is going to be with Mandy and some CIA officials and navy officials about placing you on CIA operations. Mandy mentioned on the way back from our last op that the CIA wants to place you on different teams to properly use your language skills." Jason explained.

"Wait what? He's gonna be floating?" Sonny asked, pissed off.

"I told Backburn and we are working the problem. We are going to do everything we can to make sure that doesn't happen. If the CIA wants to be sending Clay into different areas we could argue that it would be better for Bravo to be that team. If they agree it would mean less downtime for us, but it would prevent Clay from floating around. It's not that I don't trust the other teams, but I don't want any of my guys out there without us."

"So it's not just going to be Mandy there." Clay said.

"No she said the Upper Brass and the CIA Director, but who will be in the meeting, I don't know. It's going to be more than just Mandy though. But Blackburn and I are going and we'll have your back." Jason said.

"Should all be going." Sonny said.

"I feel you brother, I want to be there too, but I think a whole squad crashing a meeting won't go over well. We'll have to wait and see what happens." Ray said.

"Fine, but I don't like it." Sonny grumbled.

"I'll go and get you some pain meds." Trent said.

"Ya I gotta get to this meeting." Clay said, as he noticed the time.

"Come on." Jason said.

They headed off and Jason made sure to walk slower so Clay wouldn't have to rush to catch up. He knew how much it sucked having cracked ribs and now a concussion to go with it. He was not happy about Clay's injuries at all, but at the same time if Clay hadn't been there his whole team could have been killed and so far it all would have been for nothing.

"I'm sorry kid." Jason said.

"What are you sorry for?"

"For you getting injured. You weren't feeling well, I should have left on the plane and then you wouldn't have gotten shot and now have a concussion."

"It's not your fault. You didn't know it would be a set up and if I wasn't there there's no telling how bad that could have gone. I'll heal and be fine. Don't blame yourself, I said I wanted to go that's on me and not you. As for what happened with the op, that's on Mandy."

"It still shouldn't have gone that way. I don't know what is going to happen in this meeting, but I promise I am going to do whatever I can to make sure you stay with Bravo for your ops. I know you can handle yourself and I know you've led a team before, but you still have a lot to learn. You're only twenty-five and I want to see you make it to sixty-five. That means keeping you in the team so I can teach you everything I know."

"You said Blackburn was going to be there, so maybe it won't be too bad."

They arrived at the room and Blackburn was waiting outside of it. He didn't look impressed at all, not that they could blame him.

"Admiral Doit, Admiral Smith, Commander Shaw as well as the Director of the CIA Director Dawson are all inside ready for us. And no, no one has said anything to me. What I do know, all of them hate Ash and would love nothing more than to permanently erase his memory. Getting Spencer talked about would accomplish that." Blackburn said.

"He's already erased Ash's memory. He doesn't have to prove anything else." Jason said pissed that they were just going to use Clay. He had proven himself more than enough.

"I agree, let's go see what we can do." Blackburn said.

They all headed in and it was clear on everyone's faces that they were annoyed that Clay came in with backup.

"This is a closed meeting. You both need to leave." Commander Shaw said.

"Spenser is under my command as well as Hayes' subordinate. This affects Bravo team as a result we both have every right to be here to see what this meeting is about." Blackburn said.

"It's fine. They have the right to know what is going to happen. I can respect the desire to be there for their man and this will affect them." Director Dawson said.

Clay sat down in the only chair across the table from everyone. Leaving Jason and Blackburn to stand on either side of them. What was pissing Jason off, was Mandy sitting next to her boss not even saying anything.

"Spenser, you have been classified as a Naval and CIA asset. This is due to your sniper skills, but more importantly your language skills that reflect your high IQ level. It has been brought to our attention that you have a genius level IQ that has aided you in learning multiple languages as well as being able to do on the fly complex mathematical calculations." Commander Shaw started.

"Moving forward you will be working more for the CIA than the Navy. You will be required to follow our regulations over the Navy's. From this point forward you will be a Tier One Operation within the CIA. And before anyone can jump to speaking, the paperwork has already been signed and filed. And no we don't need Spenser's signature. He waived that right when he enlisted. Government Assets fall under CIA jurisdiction." Direction Dawson stated.

"What does that mean for Spenser?" Jason asked, beyond pissed right now but there was literally nothing he could do about it. The paperwork had already been filed, this wasn't a meeting to give them the head's up, this was to tell them.

"It means you will still be able to operate with other teams within Devgru, but you will also be out with CIA agents doing different operations, some of which could be undercover. As a result we will need to ensure you are better prepared for some of those operations. You are on record for knowing ten languages, including English, we are going to have you learn an additional five languages; Farsi, Russian, Korean, Japanese, and Chinese." Director Dawson started.

"Sir with all your respect, the human mind can only learn so much. On average it's five languages in addition to your native language. I already know close to double that number, and I learnt them when I was younger for the most part. The older you are the harder it is to learn a new language. Plus ones that are similar are harder and can easily get mixed up in your mind. It would not be wise to have me learn any more languages." Clay explained.

"This is not up for debate. I give the order and you do it, it's that simple. You don't, you will be arrested for treason. I don't play around and I don't like it when someone thinks they can tell me their opinion without being asked for it. You are new to this, so I'm going to give you the chance to change what you just said to me. Try yes Sir this time." Director Dawson demanded and within a second the atmosphere in the room changed.

"Yes Sir." Clay said and it was clear he was doing his best to keep his tongue bit.

Jason was about to lose his shit, but he knew that would put Clay in jeopardy and he wasn't going to be making things harder on him.

"Good boy. In addition to the languages you will also be taking courses on chemistry, biology, engineering and physics so you can be placed undercover as a scientist. You will do these courses while you are still going out on operations. I understand you are on medical leave due to cracked ribs for the next six weeks, so over the course of the next six weeks you will be in the classroom. I have already scheduled you in for the classes. You will spend twenty hours a day doing different courses seven days a week. Every five hours I've allotted time for you to get a ten minute break. You will start right after this meeting." Direction Dawson said.

"Excuse me Sir, we just discovered that in addition to Spenser's cracked ribs he also has a mild concussion. As you would know Sir he will need to be on rest for seven to ten days." Jason said as politely as possible.

"Was this confirmed by a military doctor?" Director Dawson asked.

"No, our team medic. It was when we were on our way to this meeting. We were going to have Spenser see the base Doc after this." Jason said.

"But he did see a military doctor a few days ago and it was ruled out." Admiral Doit commented.

"Yes Sir, but as you know symptoms don't always present themselves right away. His pupils are unequal. It's slight, but combined with his headache it's enough to conclude he has a mild concussion." Jason explained.

"They look equal to me. He's fine for class work even if he had a concussion, which I highly doubt he does. You will begin after this meeting." Director Dawson said, not impressed at all.

"If I may Sir, even something simple like sitting with multiple cracked ribs is not medically recommended. Along with the mild concussion, you need Spenser at his best in order to properly take in the information he needs to properly learn within these courses. It would be in everyone's best interests, especially the CIA, for Spenser to be allowed to start in a day or two when the headache is gone and his ribs are more healed." Blackburn tried.

"A weak asset is not beneficial to us, Director. I don't see what a day could hurt." Admiral Smith said.

"Very well, Spenser can start tomorrow at four am and he will go until midnight. The doctor gave you a medical leave for six weeks, but the CIA has different regulations for medical leave. You have cracked ribs, that means you can be awarded two weeks. After the two weeks since the date of the injury has passed you will be placed back on active duty and may be sent off on a mission with whatever team is available." Director Dawson stated.

"Sir, I know you were thinking of having Spenser float around. I would like to offer up Bravo Team to be the main team that Spenser works with. They are the best the Navy has, as their track record proves. They all know each other and work well together. They would be able to handle the more challenging operations and they are the best team to protect your new asset." Blackburn said.

He was really hoping to at least get something out of this that went in their favor, because so far they were getting screwed. It would mean more work for Bravo, but he knew no one would care about that.

"It would benefit us Sir to have Bravo doing the top rated operations. Plus they will make sure our asset is protected and comes back alive." Mandy said, speaking for the first time.

Normally Jason would be happy to have her support, but this time around he knew she was only doing it to further her career. She was stuck on Bravo and without them doing these operations she wouldn't get any credit for it.

"Very well. When Spenser is not within a CIA team he will be placed within Bravo. Spenser, you will go to the learning center to pick up your course materials. I expect you to be ready for tomorrow. You are dismissed." Director Dawson ordered.

Clay gave a nod and he stood up, doing everything he could to not show any pain. The three of them headed out and Blackburn waited until they were far enough away from the door before he spoke.

"I know this wasn't ideal and there really isn't anything we can do about this right now. But take the win that Spenser will still be able to be on Bravo and you all will be able to watch his back."

"Not ideal? He's got a concussion and he's going to be sitting in a room for twenty hours a day learning all this shit. It's going to prolong his concussion and on top of that he's got cracked ribs that he's expected to operate with. That's bullshit." Jason snapped.

"I agree, but unfortunately, we are not in any position right now to argue or fight them." Blackburn said.

"How do we fight them then?" Clay asked, because this was not what he wanted at all.

"By getting more upper brass on our side then theirs. We overpower them with numbers then the Navy can kick the CIA out of this little party and Spenser will be a Navy asset. Still an asset, but he would get to follow our regulations again." Blackburn said.

"So Admirals and Captains." Jason said, trying to think of someone that could help.

"And politicians that have a pull. Admiral Anderson will help." Clay easily stated.

"He hates Ash." Blackburn said.

"But he loves me. He's my Godfather." Clay stated.

"Whoa." Jason said surprised.

"I wasn't aware of that." Blackburn said.

"We don't advertise it. Something that we agreed upon when I started. I already had Ash over my head, I didn't need people to know that I had an Admiral as a Godfather. I've never gone to him for help before, but he might know a place to start." Clay explained.

"I'll speak with him and see if he can lend a hand. You get him home in bed." Blackburn said to Jason.

"I got him. Gotta stop by and see Trent, he's got the kid some pain meds." Jason said.

Blackburn gave a nod and then they all headed off. Clay stayed quiet as they headed off for their cages. Jason didn't press, he knew that Clay was not feeling great and he needed some time to get his thoughts in order. Jason was beyond pissed. He couldn't believe that no one had been there on their side that could have helped to stop this. That no one had even given them any heads up so they could try and do something. Now Clay was being forced to do things he didn't want to do. He was going to lose more freedom working for the CIA and out there without Bravo. The only benefit they got was that Clay would still be with Bravo, but that caused more problems with Bravo having to be on more operations and spending less time home. They walked into the cage room and everyone was there waiting to see what would happen. Clay instantly went over and sat down on one of the stools at the table.

"So what happened?" Sonny demanded.

"We got railroaded. The paperwork had already been filed. Spenser has been listed as a CIA asset. He starts tomorrow at four in the morning to learn new languages and other courses. He'll be doing twenty hours days, seven days a week until the courses are finished and in between doing operations." Jason started.

"What!" Sonny yelled.

Clay winced and grabbed his head. "Sonny, man." Clay complained.

"Sorry Little Buddy. This is just bullshit." Sonny said, as he placed his hand on Clay's back.

"He's on medical leave for six weeks, maybe we can fix this." Ray said.

"He now has to follow the CIA regulations. He only gets two weeks off with cracked ribs, regardless of how many there are. He goes back on operations in ten days." Jason said.

"He can't with cracked ribs. He'll probably still have a concussion still. With having to strain your mind with reading and looking at computer screens it will extend your concussion. You most likely will still have it in ten days." Trent said, now more worried about Clay's physical health more than anything.

"We'll have to come across that bridge when we get there. We did manage to argue that their new asset would be safer going on missions with us compared to floating around with other teams. So when he has navy missions he will be with us, but when the missions are strictly CIA he will be with agents. And there was talk of him going undercover as well." Jason said, getting it all out.

"This is insane. How long is he supposed to do this for?" Ray asked.

"They didn't say." Jason said.

"I'm the new shiny toy that they get to play with. Eventually another new shiny toy will come along and I'll get forgotten about. My enlistment is up when I'm twenty-eight if this is still happening at that point I'll have leverage to renegotiate the terms of my enlistment to get it back to what it was supposed to be. Assuming we can't get it changed before then. Three years is better than forever." Clay said, and they could all hear the pain and exhaustion in his voice.

"We're going to try and see if we can overpower the one involved in this to get Clay back within Navy control. It's going to take time though." Jason added.

"This is insane. I hate this. But at least he'll be with us and not some other team." Sonny said, trying to come to terms with everything.

"Is there anything we can do to help?" Brock asked.

"Not right now." Jason answered.

"You need rest Clay. Here's the meds, take one every six hours as needed. Just rest all day and I'll check in on you tomorrow." Trent said, handing over the meds.

"He gets a ten minute break every five hours." Jason said, not impressed at all.

"Oh how generous of them." Sonny said, as he rolled his eyes.

"There's nothing we can do about it. All we can do is be there for whatever the kid needs." Ray said.

"Right now, what he needs is sleep." Trent said.

"Yup. Come on, I'll drive you home. The rest of you guys work on some drills, let's get ready for whatever operations might be coming our way. With it being two weeks out, I'll get Blackburn to put us off duty so we can do more training. Ray, check in with Lisa, she can probably give us a rough idea of what operations are going on right now that the CIA are involved in. We don't need details, just a rough idea of what they are going in for. I'll be back shortly." Jason ordered.

"Copy Boss." Ray said with a nod.

"Call me, if you feel worse Clay." Trent said.

"I will." Clay said, as he got up.

They all could tell he was very sore and they wished he could have had more time to rest and recover. Not just from his injuries, but from the rape. He was now going to be thrown back into duty when he desperately needed the time off. Clay and Jason headed out and made their way over to his truck. Once inside, Clay moved the seat back like he did with Sonny's to try and help ease the pain a bit. Jason waited to say anything until they were down the road.

"I'll drop you off and then go pick up some food for you. I'll grab some easy things that you can eat while you are off. I'll also be picking you up tomorrow morning at three thirty and taking you in. That'll give you enough time to get what you need before your class starts."

"You don't have to do that. I'll be fine and I can drive tomorrow." Clay said, not wanting to put Jason out.

"You have a concussion and until that heals up a bit I would prefer you to not drive. I don't mind, I can always crash in the lounge afterwards. I'm more worried about you." Jason said, finally letting his worry show through in his voice.

"I'll be fine, I've been through worse. Besides, I like learning new things."

"Our little genius. I always called you a genius, didn't know it was official."

"Found out when I applied for Basic. It was just another piece of me, it's never really mattered to me one way or the other. I knew I was smart, I don't care to be labeled as a genius. My mind helps me to help other people, that's all that I care about." Clay said with a shrug.

"That's because you're a good person Clay. Despite everything, you are a good person, that right there is proof that there are miracles in this world." Jason said proudly.

"Can I…" Clay started but hesitated. He wasn't sure he should be asking Jason this or not.

"Can you what?" Jason was surprised that Clay hesitated. It wasn't like him to hold back on a question. Something that would match with him having a higher IQ. Jason couldn't help but wonder if Clay's need to know things ever became exhausting for him.

"Nothing, it's inappropriate."

"No such thing with family. Go ahead and say it."

Clay let out a soft sigh before he spoke. "I was wondering if I could ask you a question, like a Dad question. But it's inappropriate, you are not my Dad, you are my boss and friend." Clay said quickly.

"Kid, how many times do you think I've had one of the guys stay over at my place in the eighteen years I've been in the teams?" Jason asked calmly.

"I don't know, probably hundreds."

"Zero. Zero times any of them have crashed at my place. Except you. You have been there two dozen times in the past year you've been on Bravo. Just like you are the only team member I've left alone with my kids. The others have been around them in gatherings, but none have ever been alone with them. None have babysat them or come over just to help them with their homework that we couldn't figure out. None have ever been there for Christmas. But you have." Jason started.

Clay didn't know what to say. He had no idea that Jason had never had any of the guys over like he did with him. He figured it was normal. The times when Clay was hurt, Jason would invite him over. The times when he was having problems with Ash, Jason would invite him over. All the times when Jason could tell he wasn't sleeping great, he would invite him over. It became natural that Clay would help Mickey and Emma with their homework. Especially the stuff that Jason and Alana didn't understand. It was normal for Clay to be hanging out with Mickey and playing soccer in the backyard. It was normal that Clay was on the list of people who could pick Mickey up at school, and has. Clay figured it was like that with everyone and didn't think much of it. When Jason invited him over for Christmas, Clay figured it would just be for dinner. Only it was Christmas Even and all day Christmas with them. They had even exchanged gifts. Clay figured it was because they knew he didn't have a family to spend it with. Now he couldn't help but wonder why.

"Why me?"

"Because when I look at you I see a friend, yes, but I don't see a brother. It's not like when I look at the other guys or when I looked at Nate even. When I look at you I see a kid." Jason paused for a moment before he continued. "I see my kid. You don't feel like a brother to me, you feel like Emma and Mickey does. Like you're a part of me. I know that sounds crazy probably to you."

Clay cut Jason off. "It doesn't. I don't really know what a Dad feels like. I know what it's not supposed to feel like. But, you feel like a Dad to me. Have since I met you almost. It doesn't sound crazy."

"Good. So from now on I don't want you to hesitate with asking me a question. Whether that is a boss question or a Dad question, I will always answer. What did you want to ask me?"

"Do you think I'm too sensitive?"

"No. Why do you ask?"

Jason wasn't expecting that question. Yes Clay was sensitive, but he was also very intelligent so it wasn't surprising. Plus with the lack of parental figures in his life growing up he would be more sensitive to things.

"Just things recently and Ash always said it. I was just wondering if maybe he's right."

Jason could hear the hurt in Clay's voice and he knew exactly what recent things Clay was talking about. If Clay thought the way he reacted to being rape was him being too sensitive then Jason really wanted to punch Ash in the face. If it had been him, he wouldn't have been able to leave his bed. Jason pulled off to the side of the road. This was a conversation he needed to have with Clay and make sure all of his attention was on him. With the truck in park, Jason turned so he could face Clay.

"You are not too sensitive Clay. You've been through a lot in your life, more so than I know about and I would really like to get to know more about your past and your childhood. But more importantly, anything that asshole has said to you is wrong. You are not too sensitive, you care about people. You want to help as many as you can and yes sometimes it's hard on you when injustice happens, but you don't ;et it ruin you. We all have a sensitive spot, Ray and me are kids. Sonny is women, Brock is dogs and Trent is the team. You care about all of those things and that is what makes you a good person, a good man. Despite having Ash for a father. And I wish I could have met your grandparents, because I would really love to shake the hands of the people who raise you into being this amazing man. You are perfect the way you are, just like everyone else on the team."

"Thanks." Clay said with the first real smile Jason had seen since his attack.

"I'm always going to be here for you. You can tell me anything Clay and I mean anything. All you have to do is do what Mickey and Emma do, tell me you need a dad moment. I started it with Emma when she was reaching her teenage years. In a dad moment you can tell me anything and I won't get mad at you, no disappointment, no lecture, no judgement. Just me listening and talking whatever it is out calmly. In a dad moment you can tell me anything and if you don't want to talk about it again, then we don't. It's that simple. Got it?"

"Got it."

"So with that being said, do you need a dad moment?"

Jason was really hoping Clay would tell him more about what happened. He really wanted him to open up to him.

"Say I do, and I tell you something, what happens when we go back to you being my boss?"

"It would be an area we would need to navigate through, but what you tell me outside of being a boss will be kept there. I will trust in your judgement to be able to handle the missions. If there comes a time where I need to pull rank, know that I would only do that because the biggest job I have is to keep you safe. If I have to pull rank, it's because I have no other options but to pull rank."

"No, I understand that."

It was a huge relief to Jason that Clay understood what position he was in and where he was coming from.

"Is there anything you want to talk about?" Jason asked gently.

"Yes, something happened, but I'm not ready to talk about it yet. I'm still processing."

"And that's ok. You have every right to process what happened and take the time you need. When you are ready, I'll be here for you."

"I appreciate it, really I do."

Jason gave Clay a warm smile and a wink before he put his truck back in gear and headed off for Clay's apartment. When they arrived Jason got out to walk Clay up to his place. He wanted to make sure Clay got in ok. Clay opened his apartment door and tossed his keys down on the countertop.

"You didn't have to walk me up, you know. I'm not gonna fall over." Clay teased.

"You look like you could fall over." Jason teased, but he was serious about how exhausted Clay looked.

"Babe, where did you go?" Shawn asked, coming out of the bedroom dressed in his work clothes.

Jason instantly looked from the big guy to Clay, who said big guy called babe. Jason could see the worry all over Clay's face and he knew how he reacted in this moment would determine the course of his relationship with Clay.

"Oh, you are going to be in so much trouble for this." Jason teased with a big smile.

He knew for a fact that no one on the team would care. They would defend Clay in a heartbeat if anyone had anything to say about it. They would be more upset with the fact that Clay kept it from them.

"Who are you?" Shawn asked, moving closer to Clay, as if he needed to protect him.

"I'm Jason Hayes." Jason said, holding his hand out to Shawn.

"Shawn Wilson. Are you on the same team as Clay?" He asked, taking Jason's hand in his.

"Team leader, but you can consider me more of his father." Jason said, holding onto Shawn's hand.

He wasn't sure what it was about Shawn, but he was throwing up some flags. Like how big he was. Sonny said Clay had told him his friend that assaulted him was bigger than he was. Shawn fit that description. He would be keeping a very close eye on him and their relationship.

"Last I checked, his father's name is Ash." Shawn said as he tightened his hold on Jason's hand to match his strength.

"Biologically he is. But I'm the one you have to worry about."

"I got nothing to worry about." Shawn said, not backing down.

"I'm exhausted, so is the dick measuring contest over now?" Clay asked, not comfortable with the tension in the room.

Jason pulled his hand back, but more for Clay's sake.

"You should be in bed babe. I was surprised to come by and you weren't here." Shawn said, as he moved over to Clay.

"I got called in for a work meeting. I have to go in for a course so I'll be gone for most of the time for a little while."

"How long is a little while? Are you staying local?" Shawn asked.

"I'm local and I'm not sure. What are you doing here? I thought you were working on sites all day?" Clay asked, looking to change the subject away from his work.

"I was on my way to a site, but I wanted to come by and bring you some food. You're down to like two cans of soup in here and you refuse to crash at my place."

"My place is closer to work, that's all. Thank-you though for the food." Clay said warmly.

"It's no problem babe. I gotta get back to work. I'll see you tonight."

"He needs to be resting so you can see him another night." Jason said. He couldn't help it, his guard was up around Shawn. There was just something about him.

Shawn ignored him and pulled Clay in for a kiss. After a quick moment he pulled back and spoke. "See you tonight babe."

"Be safe." Clay said.

Shawn headed out, not even bothering to say anything to Jason and Jason knew he was going to be a problem. With Shawn gone, Jason turned his attention to Clay, but he made sure he didn't show his concern or annoyance with Shawn.

"Don't suppose we can rewind here and you'll let me have a dad moment eh?" Clay joked.

"But if I do that, then I won't be able to tease you. But know that I don't care if you date a girl or a guy. That doesn't change how I feel about you and the guys would say the same. They are going to be pissed, especially Sonny, that you kept something this important and big from them."

"Ya I figured as much. I'm not ashamed of being bi-sexual, really I'm not. I just didn't know how they would take it. It's one thing to be ok with someone dating a guy and another to have that person on your team. To be sleeping in the same room as someone who also likes guys. Showering around each other. It's just different and I didn't want it to change the team dynamic."

Jason could tell that Clay was very worried about that. He could understand where he was coming from. Most jarheads were not too happy with having someone that was gay within their ranks. Clay was bi-sexual, but it would still be treated the same. He knew though that no one on Bravo would care. It wouldn't change their dynamic at all. Sonny would still make jokes and would be insulted if him and Clay still didn't share a bunk bed. If Clay didn't shower with them. Hell, Jason knew without a doubt that Sonny would be all too happy to play wingman for Clay to pick up a new boyfriend. That is what made Sonny a good man, he didn't care who you dated as long as you found love and were treated right.

"First of all, the guys wouldn't care that you are bi-sexual. It wouldn't change the dynamic. And if it's Sonny you are worried about, don't be. Hell, he's going to be dragging you out to gay bars to play wingman with you. Sonny might be a pipehitter, but he's smarter than people give him credit for. He wouldn't let this change your friendship. None of them will care, but they will care that you haven't told them. You don't keep these secrets from family. I'm not saying you need to scream it from the rooftop, but the guys deserve to know." Jason said, as he moved closer to Clay.

"I know, I just don't want them to look at me differently." Clay admitted.

"They won't. They love you, you are their brother. There is nothing about you that they would hate. You can tell them and we will keep the secret, because I'd imagine having Ash as your father, an Admiral as a godfather and now being bi-sexual it won't be easy on you. You can trust them with this."

Clay gave a nod. "Ok, I'll tell them tomorrow."

"Good. Now, I know you are exhausted and need sleep, but real quick. Where did you meet?" Jason said with a smirk.

Clay rolled his eyes playfully before he spoke. "I met him at a club four months ago. It was after Mexico and I just wanted to get out. I went to the club alone and he caught my attention. I didn't think he was gay, but he came over and bought me a drink. We ended up hooking that night and we've been dating ever since."

"Where does he work?"

"He owns a construction company. He owns a penthouse condo downtown, his business is very successful."

"He looks like a construction guy with his size. He looks older."

"Ya he's older."

"And how older is he? Like Brock older or me older?"

"Closer to Ray. He's thirty-seven, never married, no kids."

"Thirty-seven? He's twelve years older than you. That's not a big deal if you were seniors, but there's a big difference between twenty-five and thirty-seven. He's got his career established, you are just getting your established. How is he with your career?"

That was the big issue right now. The younger you were the more open minded you were. Shawn would be set in his ways and want his boyfriend to be there with him. Clay was gone most weeks out of the year and that wouldn't go well with someone with Shawn's personality. Jason didn't really know him, but he could tell that Shawn was annoyed when he stopped by and Clay wasn't here. Or that he would have to work more right now. All were red flags and Jason knew it wouldn't be Shawn that ended up heartbroken.

"He's not happy with it. He doesn't like that I can get called away at a moment's notice. We've had an argument about it just before this last mission actually."

"Really?" Jason asked. He was very interested in hearing about this argument, because Clay showed up after being raped by apparently a friend.

"Ya it wasn't a big deal. He had a bit too much to drink that night and it wasn't a big deal. I let it affect me more than it should have."

Jason knew that Clay wasn't talking about the argument, he was talking about the rape. Apparently he wasn't believing he was raped and if it was by Shawn, which Jason believed it was, then he might not ever see it for what it was. Them dating didn't mean that Shawn had the right to put bruises on him and force himself on him, on his kid. Jason thought he only had to worry about Clay professionally, but now he had reasons to be worried about him personally as well.

"You have the right to feel how you feel Clay. If it bothered you what he said or did then you have the right to be upset over it. And if him drinking is a problem, that is something you need to think about. Drinking for pleasure is one thing, but drinking to the point where you are hurt is another, even if that hurt is words. I'm not saying you guys won't work out, but just keep your heart guarded for a little while first. Don't give it to him so easily because with your job, that is going to get more intense, he might not be willing to stick around. And the very last thing I want is for you to be hurt."

Jason was really wishing he could talk to Clay about the rape. To tell him that there is no amount of alcohol on this Earth that turns a man into that type of monster. That lives inside of him and it could come out without the alcohol next time. This situation was volcanic and the only comfort to him right now was knowing that Clay wouldn't be around much. He would be with the team where he belonged and hopefully that distance will make Shawn leave.

"I'll be careful and like you said, I'm gonna be gone a lot right now and I have no idea if he'll stick around for it. I'm protecting my heart, I swear. But for now, I really need sleep."

Jason could see the exhaustion clear on Clay's face. He pulled Clay in for a hug and held on for a moment just allowing himself to be comforted by the fact that they had accomplished something today. It wasn't what he wanted, but at least Clay would be with them for all Navy operations and that was more than they had walking in.

"I know I don't say this, but I'm proud of you and I love you." Jason said.

"I love you too." Clay said, doing his best not to let his tears build up.

Jason pulled back and gave Clay a warm smile.

"I'll see you at three thirty. I'll bring the coffee."

"Sounds good."

Jason headed out and Clay let out a sigh. He had no idea how it was going to go over with Shawn about his new position, but he was hoping it wouldn't be too bad. He was also a little nervous about the guys finding out he was dating Shawn. Especially Sonny. He would be able to connect his injuries from the other night to Shawn, so he would need to make sure he had a good cover for it. That was a problem for later, right now he just wanted to sleep for a week. Clay made his way over to his room, stripped and got into bed.

Blackburn made his way to Admiral Anderson's office hoping to speak to him about Clay's situation. He was surprised that Anderson was Clay's godfather, but him and Ash were on the same team so he figured they must have been close at one point. He couldn't help but wonder if it was Ash's book that caused the rift between them or if it had to do with Clay. Blackburn knocked and waited for when he was allowed to enter, he walked in and he could see the Admiral was not pleased.

"Commander Blackburn, what do you need?"

"I need to speak with you about Special Warfare Officer Spenser."

"If this is about the Director of the CIA hi-jacking one of our best operatives, I've heard."

"I'm hoping you would be able to help me with a plan of attack on how to overrule Director Dawson on it. I know it would take a strong force to change the outcome, but I would like to try."

"You'd need a very strong and powerful force to make the Director change his mind. You would also have to hang a shiny carrot in front of his face. We don't have a carrot shinier than Spenser right now."

"I know, but someone might come up. I was hoping you would throw your support in Spenser's corner as well as Captain Harrington."

"Spenser will always have my support. He has a bright future ahead of him. Captain Harrington is not going to help. He prefers things to be kept the old way and everyone does as they are told. He prefers his operatives to be old school and by the book, like Charlie One. Spenser is different, more like Hayes. He'll rock the boat and change things around here. You need a Captain that is not afraid of those that can rock the boat and get positive results. Captain Lindell, you want him in your corner. Spenser is just what he is looking for, and it doesn't hurt that Spenser could promote his career."

"I'll reach out to him. I appreciate it."

"He is also connected with politicians, people that have pull with the Director. You get him on your side, you will be able to start making a plan. He might not do it for free, so let him know that if he helps and succeeds in getting Spenser back within the Navy full time and away from the CIA, he can be given the Captain position of Bravo."

"I will let him know Sir." Blackburn said, slightly surprised that Anderson was willing to go to those lengths to help Clay. He was glad though so he wasn't going to be thinking too much on it.

"Let me know if you need any help."

"I will thank-you."

Anderson gave a nod and Blackburn headed out. He had a Captain to speak with and hopefully they could get Clay back with them where he belonged.


End file.
